IPL close shaves: Instances of one-wicket wins
KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) clinched the two points from the jaws of defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore in a final ball thriller. Notably, the two sides took the field in match 15 of the ongoing IPL 2023 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
For the unversed, RCB posted a humongous total, thanks to impressive performances by the top-order. Skipper Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, and Glenn Maxwell put on a show as they smashed 79*, 61 and 59 runs respectively to help attain the mammoth first inning score.
In response, Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran blew away the home side as they hammered 65 and 62 runs to revive the chase after early jolts. As the game went down to the wire, LSG won the contest with a wicket in hand off the final ball to clinch the two points.
In 2018, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians engaged in a similar tussle. Chasing a low-scoring total of 148 runs, the Hyderabad franchise won the contest with one wicket remaining off the very last ball in the thrilling affair. The final-wicket pair of Deepak Hooda and Billy Stanlake held their nerves in the last over to win the contest while being up against MI’s Ben Cutting.
The same year in 2018, Chennai had registered a win with one-wicket in hand against arch-rivals Mumbai Indians. The Rohit Sharma-led side was unable to defend their score of 165 runs as CSK got to the finish line with just one ball to go at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Kolkata Knight Riders scripted a historic win in 2015, beating Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in the penultimate ball of the exciting clash at the Eden Gardens. Chasing 183 runs, Sunil Narine helped KKR edge past Punjab as he faced Anureet Singh in the final ball to take a single and win the contest. In doing so, KKR won with their final wicket remaining.
